Final Bow

Tanghalang Pilipino officially ends their season with the final performance of "The Pretenders" and being fans of the said play, we simply can't miss the show. We trooped over to CCP at around 2pm. Feeling flustered because of the heat, we decided to stay at Starbucks while waiting for the open house. That was a mistake because when we got back to the theater we were already last in line, thus we were faced with the option of seating far back or sit at the 2nd row directly in front of a group of students. We chose the latter. Despite the fact that the students were very distracting because of the loud discussions and side comments, I still managed to enjoy the show. True to what Tad said, he looked hilarious. The moment he stepped on-stage the crowd burst into loud peals of laughter, also he has a speaking part this time around.

Both leads are still at their best, they still managed to move me to tears with their performances. Their final bow leaves me deeply saddened but I look forward to the possibility that TP might restage the play back to back with Mass. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Now we wait till June for the Virgin Labfest and Zsazsa Zaturnnah and till August for the next season.

Philippine Bedtime Stories

Once again, thanks to Ms. Yvette, we got to watch Philippine Bedtime Stories last night. I didn't expect that she'd make good on something she said in passing.

Hogi, Micah and I were the first ones to get to Tanghalang HB and we stayed at the lobby briefly discussing the one-act plays included in the show. I was not familiar to any of them thus I didn't know what to expect. I am however excited at the prospect of seeing a production that is a collaboration between a Japanese theater company and our homegrown theater group. It briefly reminded me of a play that opened in Singapore last year where actors from three continents interact with each other live via satellite.

They presented two versions of "Ang Unang Aswang" and it is interesting that the Japanese version is as fluid as that of the Pinoy version. The tagalog version and "Ligaya Sa Isang Pinoy Bar" are my favorites though. Laugh out loud! And agreeing with Hogi, Yuko, playing a Filipino who knows how to speak Japanese is simply adorable.

Pa rin?

I was meeting a friend at Glorietta at around 8pm yesterday. I purposely left the house earlier because I intended to have a haircut first. Yes, I arrived early but not as early as I would've wanted. I opted to make time pass at the bookstore instead.

Since I have been so enthralled with "The Pretenders", I wanted to know what becomes of Pepe thus I picked up a copy of "Mass". I have also been continuously listening to the music of Larawan so I looked for a copy of Nick Joaquin's famous elegy. I have previously read the material when I was still in college but I don't have a copy of my own. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was available, albeit a little dirty and dusty. Finally, before heading over to pay for my purchases, I searched "The Pretenders" for the lyrics of the song that Carmen hears before she finally goes deaf. I was not able to do so at home since my copy is with Zshali. I did this in preparation for the LSS that I was sure to have once I watch the final performance tomorrow.

"yo sin su amor no soy nada
Deten el tiempo en tus manos
haz esta noche perpetua
para que nunca se vaya de mi"

For those of you who want to know what all the fuss is about with "The Pretenders", you can still catch the play today and tomorrow.

Updates...

Today marks the end of a series of trainings scheduled by the training team for us (although meron pa daw for March kaya lang wala pang na-se-send na calendar) so for the meantime, I'll be having a little more flexibility with my schedule.

We'll also be having a new manager on board this Monday. It's been almost 6 months since Mina's resignation so it's gonna be another long period of adjustment for everyone on the team. We'll see how it works out.

Zshali and I were supposed to watch The Pretenders last Sunday but Paolo informed me that there were no tickets available for that day. We're rescheduling it to this Sunday, the show's last performance, yun eh kung sasama pa rin si Zshali.

Watched The Pretenders with my sister, Hogi, and some of her friends last Saturday and may last song syndrome pa rin ako come Monday.

Some of my colleagues and friends already expressed excitement over Avenue Q on August but not so with ZZZ this July. Although some of them expressed their support for the last run by buying tickets from us. Tama ka Hogi, segragated din ang theater-going crowd dito sa atin.

Pretenders uli!

I haven't been able to post anything since I was busy with work. I attended a data analytics training class half of the week, on top of that, deadlines for staff appraisals, monthly report to senior management and the monthly business review presentation were also due. If that's not enough, I also received a complaint from the account and attend a site meeting where several new policies were put in place. Hectic!

Come Saturday, I went to Rockwell with a friend to unwind. The cool weather provided for a long leisurely walk that cleared my head.

Sunday after church, since I wanted my sister and cousin to see "The Pretenders", we headed over to CCP to catch the show.

I loved the show even more as did my sister and cousin. I don't know if there were changes but I felt that the story was more tight. I was literally moved to tears in several of the scenes and this early, we're already planning to watch either the last show or the show next Sunday. Ang galing nila!

Thanks to Ms. Yvette, who as soon as she heard that we're headed over to CCP gave us a couple of compli tickets.

The Pretenders

I loved TP's The Pretenders and I am doubly glad that I finished the book before watching the performance. As I was reading the book, I was wondering how they will adapt it on stage since the story is told through Carmen Villa who is reading the diaries of her deceased husband, Tony Samson. Being that it was already written in the diary, most of the events are highlights in Tony's life.

Lights and sounds played major roles in the story and the set design is ingenious. My friends and I were already discussing the significance of every prop on stage. Also, the story requires a train to pass through every now and then as transition points and how they're able to do that, you have to come and watch.

Performances are great. I loved Romnick and Kalila. Both of them are present in almost every scene and shifting from one emotion to the next is something that they've impressibly mastered.

The Glass Menagerie

I finally got a chance to catch Tanghalang Ateneo's staging of "The Glass Menagerie" tonight. When I first heard of it, I originally intended to catch the Feb 3 (Saturday) performance because I reckoned that I will no longer be busy with Zsazsa Zaturnnah. As it turns out, Zsahli received complimentary tickets courtesy of Arnold Reyes to tonight's performance and generously shared it with me. As Zsahli puts it, sino ba naman ang tatanggi sa grasya?

I hurried to meet Zshali at Quezon Avenue since we both don't know how to get to the theater. We arrived fairly early and I was surprised that the crowd was mostly made up of students. I know I shouldn't be since it's being staged at Ateneo but I half expected the patrons to be a little bit older.

As one can expect from the title alone, the dialogues are laden with metaphors and listening to it uttered with conviction sweeps one to an entirely different world. (Never mind if I had a difficult time trying to decipher what the deeper meaning is at times). I enjoyed the play and I was awed by Laurice's performance and I'm not saying it just because everybody knows and expects that she's great. Her presence was commanding and as Amanda Wingfield, I can't help but feel for her in spite of her controlling manner.

Arnold Reyes was also a revelation since both Zsahli and I already pictured him with Dodong in mind. You immediately fall for his character, here's a gentleman caller who's funny and takes a genuine interest in crippling and shy Laura until you realize that he's a sugar-coated insensitive prick that finally breaks the already fragile household.

Do catch the show while you still can. Again, thanks Zshali and Arnold!